The present invention relates to searching a network for information. In particular, the present invention relates to search tools used in computer searching.
Computer networks connect large numbers of computers together so they may share data and applications. Examples include Intranets that connect computers within a corporation and the Internet, which connects computers throughout the world.
A single computer can be connected to both an Intranet and the Internet. In such a configuration, the computer can use data and applications found on any of its own storage media such as its hard disc drive, its optical drive, or its tape drive. It can also use data and applications located on another computer in the Intranet or Internet. Given the large number of locations from which a computer can extract data and the increasing amount of storage capacity at each of these locations, users have found it increasingly difficult to isolate the information they desire.
In recent years, users have begun to use search engines to help them search the Internet. Typically, search engines accept a search query from the user and then look for the search query""s terms in an indexed list of terms. The indexed list is generated by parsing text found on individual Internet pages and indexing the text by the page""s Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
Since it is impossible to index every page on the Internet, each search engine selects a set of pages to index. Since each search engine is created by a different group of people, different search engines index different sets of pages. In fact, some search engines have become extremely specialized and only index pages related to a specific category of information such as sports or celebrities.
In addition, different search engines search through their index in different ways and are optimized using different query structures. Some search engines are optimized to accept free-text queries. Others are optimized to accept queries with logical operators such as xe2x80x9cANDxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cORxe2x80x9d.
The differences between various search engines are largely unknown by average computer users. Therefore, they are not able to determine which search engine would best suit their searching goals. In addition, many of the specialized search engines that index specific categories of pages are unknown to average computer users. Therefore, users are not fully utilizing the variety of search engines available on the Internet.
Currently, there are no tools available to help computer users identify which search engines they should be using to optimize their search. There are also no tools that help searchers identify ambiguities in their search that may cause poor search engine performance.
In addition, there are no search tools that provide feedback to help searchers improve their search. If a searcher does not obtain the result they want, current search engines typically will not offer suggestions for improving the search.
In addition, most search engines provide a very technical display to the user that does not invite the user to interact with the search engines. For novice users, this increases their hesitancy to explore search engines. Therefore, a tool is needed that increases user interaction in the searching process and that makes the searching process more entertaining.
The present invention is a web companion that assists a searcher of Intranets and the Internet by providing suggestions as to where the user should search and how they should construct their query. Many of the suggestions made by the web companion are based on a search goal that the web companion identifies from the user""s query. By attempting to define the user""s search goal, the web companion is able to be more precise, and thus more helpful, in the suggestions it makes to the searcher.
Under embodiments of the present invention, clue features are used to identify possible search goals. One such clue feature is a topic list that identifies possible topics for the search query. Under an embodiment of the invention, the topic list is generated by first indexing terms found on network pages. The terms are indexed by the topics associated with their respective pages. A component then looks for query terms and query phrases in the index and for each match returns the associated topics.
Under embodiments of the present invention a search tool balloon is displayed to provide search suggestions to the user. When the user submits a search to the search balloon, the invention invokes a network browser that displays the results of the search. Suggestions for improving the search are then provided in the balloon. In some embodiments, a selectable entry is added to the suggestions to allow the user to indicate that their search was successful.
In most embodiments of the invention, the search tool is made more entertaining and less intimidating by providing an animated character with the suggestion balloon. The appearance of the animated character is changed based on the goals identified by the invention for the user""s search query.